Horizontal, Vertical, and Sever
by Uozumi
Summary: Alone and unwanted, thoughts turn to acts unmentionable. Of the ninth Jinchûriki and the boy who saved him. Nonslash.


**Title** _Horizontal, Vertical, and Sever_  
**Author** Uozumi  
**Genre** Angst-ish/General  
**Rating** PG-13  
**Disclaimer** I do not own nor claim to own this. The characters, ect...contained within are not my property. This is an act of fandom and I do not make a profit from this endeavor. I also do not own the song contained within, it is property of its respective owner(s).  
**Summary** Alone and unwanted, thoughts turn to acts unmentionable. Of the ninth Jinchûriki and the boy who saved him. Non-slash.  
**WARNING** Suicide Attempt  
**Notes** I was thinking about a different idea and direction for this fic but then I rethought and took it in this direction.

**_Horizontal, Vertical, and Sever_**

The little boy was on the swings again. It was a mystery how the boy learned to walk and some wondered if the almost-four-year-old could even speak. He had taken to sitting on the swings outside of the ninja academy, his small legs dangling off the ground as he watched the older children enter and exit the building. No one knew how he came and went from that spot, and many people didn't care. Most children orphaned three years ago had been adopted except for him. Unknowingly, he carried the beast that caused so much pain, but to him, he simply watched the world pass him by on his swing.

Two boys were walking by him. One of them was making exaggerated slashing moments. He caught snippets of their conversation. He knew that Gomaru (the one making the motions) wanted to be a medical ninja or at least thought they were pretty cool. He was always talking to his friend Tsunami about various things he had read and knew. Now he was talking about battle and how perhaps having a slight medical background could make him better at killing enemies. The pair was only eleven, maybe twelve. It would be their last year at the academy.

He understood only half of what Gomaru was saying. Naruto listened to people who walked past, but sometimes he didn't bother. When one of the teachers came out to chase him off the swings, Naruto would stop listening and pretend he didn't understand Japanese. One of them was coming out towards him, it was the one that would pick him up and force him to stand up without even shouting.

The little boy was up and away as fast as his small legs and toddler coordination could take him from the ninja academy before the teacher could get too close. He checked over his shoulder as he ran until he finally slowed. The teacher wasn't following. He stuck to the wooded area around the school and hid amongst some bushes. Bringing his knees up, the small boy with the whiskers on his cheeks looked down at his arms. Gomaru was saying something about if he cut his kunai along an enemy's arm, it would do something, and the enemy would die. Naruto knew what death meant, but he wasn't sure exactly what the words Gomaru was saying meant. Something about "horizontal" and "vertical" and "sever." Naruto wasn't sure what those meant, but he did know what "kunai," blood," and "die" meant.

He thought about the motions Gomaru was making. He had been using big words, almost sensei-level words when he was talking. Most of it had gone over Naruto's head except for the basic principle. If there was a kunai that made someone's arm bleed, they would die. Naruto ran a finger down his arm in the two directions that Gomaru described. He looked back in the direction of the academy and then stood up.

He knew that sometimes kunai were lying around beyond the practice fields in the grass. Some students who overthrew the sand practice field would sometimes give up looking for their wayward kunai and leave them in the grass for other students to claim were the kunai they over threw. Naruto glanced at the academy's doors every so often as he searched. Finally his stubby fingers wrapped around the looped end of a kunai. Instantly he stood up and ran as fast as he could back into the trees.

Umino Iruka was seeing things. Blinking, the almost sixteen-and-a-half-year-old shook himself mentally. He had gotten back from a Chûnin mission – although it was a rather low ranked one – and he was sure that he hadn't fully rested. His brown eyes stared intently at the wooded area by the school. He had seen something, he knew he had, and even if it had been some sort of mental trick, he could still look into it. No one else was around anyway to laugh at him if he ventured into the woods and found nothing.

Parting the over hanging tree branches, he proceeded with caution, stepping carefully and fluidly without his feet making noise. Iruka was good at stealth and hiding, his eyes always looking ahead before checking behind himself. He paused and assessed the wooded area around him. There was nothing, though he felt like he was missing something. He had a bad habit of second guessing himself, which was why he knew he would never try to advance from Chûnin level, or at least for a few years. He couldn't second guess himself in a B or A rank mission, he would have to be much more confident in his decision making abilities before he would let himself attempt it.

Hearing an odd noise, Iruka's dark eyes instantly darted over to a clump of bushes not too far away. He stepped over a tree root and slowly approached, ready for anything. A little voice in his head rang out that if it was only an animal, Iruka was the biggest fool in all of Konoha. He chased it away and looked over the top of the bush before freezing slightly. The kyuubi child was looking down at his wrist in a slight trance, blood dripping down it in a slightly diagonal fashion, the kunai in his right hand stained with blood from the deep wound. Iruka's mind raced. The boy was so young and he knew enough to know that it wasn't a mishap with the kunai in young hands.

Iruka spoke before he thought it through fully. "Drop the kunai."

The child glanced up at him, his blue eyes going wide. His body seemed to shake with hesitation, like any child who knew they had done something horrible and couldn't successfully bluff their way out of it.

Iruka saw the reaction and frowned inwardly. His authoritative tone had shaken the child. He wasn't sure if the child understood the words, but the tone of his voice must have been too much. He moved slowly, treating the blonde almost like the wild animal most thought him to be. Iruka was on guard as he knelt down without stepping forward. He put his hands up to show he meant no harm, but if he had to, he knew he could defend himself if the boy attacked. "I'm not going to hurt you," he made sure that his voice was quiet and smooth. "Just put the kunai down." He made a motion with his right hand, seeing if it might help the boy understand what he wanted.

Blue eyes observed the Chûnin, the kunai still wrapped tightly in his small fist. The boy's bleeding was lessening, but the wound still looked dangerous and nasty. His hand wavered and then came a fairly loud but weak voice. "Why?"

Iruka was stunned. The child talked. It was taken almost for granted amongst many of the villagers that the boy was mute since no one had heard him speak. Iruka met his eyes, the boy not flinching or looking away. "You wounded yourself. I don't want you to do it again."

A slightly dubious look crossed the whiskered face and then it disappeared after the blonde watched Iruka's face a moment. "Really?" It was hesitant. His eyes shone slightly with hope but it looked like he was holding it back.

Iruka nodded, smiling. "Yeah." It was honest.

"You're Umino Iruka right?" The boy's face lit up as though Iruka had flipped some sort of switch.

Blinking, the teenager nodded as he stopped kneeling and sat down. His guard was still slightly up, but it was diminishing rapidly. He tried to hold onto it, this boy was very dangerous, but the expression on the child's face wasn't helping. "I am."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto." The four-year-old grinned widely, almost cat-like. "You're a Chûnin, right? I think that's what the green vests mean. Can I touch your forehead protector?" The boy retreated slightly and then said, "I only talk to myself. Am I being too loud?"

Iruka shook his head. "No, but you can't touch my forehead protector." Iruka lifted it up slightly as he spoke of it. "You need to work hard and get one yourself."

Naruto stared, and then he asked, "So I can become a ninja?" This thought had never occurred to him before. The village saw him as a nuisance and he was always being chased away from the academy.

Iruka wanted to retract his words. It wasn't his decision whether Naruto was allowed to go to the academy or not. Iruka looked at the boy's left wrist; it was becoming a large scab now. It was a reminder that the Naruto was more than just a very lonely child. He couldn't lie to Naruto, but the boy was so happy that Iruka didn't want to ruin it. Yet, Umino Iruka prided himself with his honesty, even if it was sometimes harsh and blunt. "That's not my decision," he shook his head and then added at the boy's dejected look, "but I'll see what I can do." He watched the smile reappear but Iruka knew he might not be able to do anything. Fear of Naruto was powerful.

"Do you have to go?"

Iruka blinked at the boy, and then looked at his watch. The boy was right; he had somewhere to go and little time to get there. Standing up, Iruka held out a hand to the boy. Naruto hesitated, and then grabbed it, hoisting himself off the ground. Letting go, Iruka prepared to leave and then he bent down, picking the kunai up in a fluid motion and putting it in his carrying case around his thigh. "I don't want to see you with one of these until you're allowed to carry one."

Naruto nodded, watching Iruka with the same hope in his small eyes.

"I'll see you later," Iruka said, turning to go.

"Really?" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

Iruka looked over his shoulder, nodding. "Yeah."

They exchanged a similar grin and then the teenager left hurriedly for his report to the Hokage.

Naruto happily walked over to the swing and then he paused. He had a friend. Well, he wasn't exactly sure, but he simply grinned and decided. Umino Iruka was Uzumaki Naruto's friend from now until forever.

**The End**

**Post-Story Notes** Why Suicide and why so young? **MANGA SPOILER** Gaara was trying to inflict pain on – if not even kill – himself in one of the flashbacks we're presented with in the manga. Given the similarities in Gaara and Naruto's situations, I thought that this might be a unique approach to the whole Iruka acknowledges Naruto thing, though maybe it's out there, I don't know. It was supposed to be the first thing in a fic that chronicles Iruka and Naruto, but it just kind of took on its one-shottedness in the end. As for ages, Naruto was born in October and Iruka in May. They're about thirteen years apart, but Naruto would turn four before Iruka turned seventeen, which is why Naruto is almost four and Iruka is only sixteen-and-a-half.


End file.
